softball

Press release:

Notre Dame pulled out the close victory over Holley at home on Wednesday at GCC.  

With the score tied at 8 in the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Irish scored 4 runs to provide a little cushion and ace pitcher Loretta Sorochty entered the game and sat down the side in the the top of the 7th to get the save.  

Sophomore pitcher Amelia Sorochty got the start on the mound and went 3 innings, giving up 1 hit, 2 runs (1 earned) and striking out 5.  Sophomore pitcher Mia Treleaven was credited with the win tonight, also going 3 innings, giving up 4 hits, 6 runs and striking out 9.  Loretta Sorochty pitched the 7th inning, giving 0 hits, 0 runs and striking out 2 batters.

Houseknect went the distance for the Holley Hawks, giving up 9 hits, 12 runs (4 earned) and striking out 1.

Leading the way offensively for the Lady Irish was Sofia Falleti with 2 hits, 2 runs and 1 RBI and Penny Jo Thompson with 2 hits and 2 runs scored.  Mia Treleaven had a hit (double), a run scored and 3 RBIs, Olivia had a hit (double) and 2 RBIs, Gianna Falleti and Clairissa Milliman each had a hit, 2 runs scored and an RBI, and Anna Panepento accounted for the other ND hit and added an RBI.

Walker and Church each had 2 hits for Holley, with Walker getting 2 runs scored and an RBI and Church chipping in with a run scored and RBI.  Foose accounted for the other hit for Holley and scored a run.

Photos by Pete Welker.

Press release:

Melissa Sawyer went 3-for-3 with a double, three runs scored and a stolen base to lead Alexander at the plate as they beat Pembroke 9-2 Wednesday evening.  

Faith Goodenbury went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, two runs scored and a stolen base.  Madison Boyce went 2-for-4 with a triple, an RBI, and a run scored. While Ella Felski went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

One the bump for Alexander was Emily Pietrzykowski, who went the distance to earn the win. Pietrzykowski pitched sevening innings while surrendering five hits, two earned runs, issued two walks and struck out eight Dragons.

For Pembroke, Aleena went 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs.  Lefty hurler Jayden took the loss while striking out five Trojans.

"We keep gaining momentum, and we are starting to play ball as we know we can," said Coach John Goodenbury. "Our pitchers are hitting their spots and gaining confidence. Our hitters are continuing to find holes in the defense, and the weather is helping us get consistent games in.  We have more work to do, but it was nice to start the second half of the season with a solid game and earn our fourth consecutive win.  Tomorrow we host Pembroke at 5 p.m. and we are excited to get back at it."

Submitted photos.

Notre Dame's softball game against Heuvelton (Section X) at the Mudville Softball Complex in Herkimer on Saturday was called after five innings with the Irish leading 21-0.

Pitcher Loretta Sorochty surrendered only three hits over the five innings and fanned 11 hitters.

The Irish had 17 hits, with Mia Treleaven going 4-4, including a double, scoring four runs and knocking in a pair of runs.

Katie Landers had three hits, including a double. She scored four runs and had two RBIs. Emma Sisson, Sofia Falleti, Gianna Falleti and Loretta Sorochty each had a pair of hits. Sisson had a double, two runs scored, and an RBI; S. Falleti had four RBIs; G. Falleti had two runs scored and an RBI; and Sorochty scored two runs and three RBIs.

Notre Dame was scheduled to play Section X's Maddrid-Waddington in the second game of the Mudville Tournament but Maddrid-Waddington forfeited. 

The two victories made Notre Dame the Mudville Tournament Champion for its bracket.

"I'm extremely proud of the effort shown by the ladies this afternoon," said Coach Otis Thomas "It is a great experience to play some schools from outside Section V.  It was a complete team effort today with strong bats, strong pitching and nice plays in the field.  It was unfortunate we couldn't get that second game in and had to accept a forfeited victory, but now we will turn our attention to a crazy schedule coming up with 7 games in 6 days starting on Monday.  This upcoming week will be a big test for us."

Madison Boyce was in control on the mound as she tossed a one-hit, 13 K on Friday night in Alexander.  

Boyce went 7 innings and didn't surrender an earned run while walking only two batters.

The Trojans beat the Byron-Bergen Bees 9-1.

The Trojan offense was led by Melissa Sawyer as she went 4-for-5 with one run scored and three RBIs.  Ava Yax was 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, three runs scored, an RBI and two stolen bases. Melanie Bump went 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI.  Ava Yax went 3-for-3 with two doubles, two runs scored, a walk, an RBI and two stolen bases.  Madison Boyce went 2-for-4 with two runs scored a walk and an RBI. Carley Shepard added an RBI Triple on the day.

"It was good to build on yesterday’s win with another consistent day for our team," said Coach John Goodenbury.  "With this crazy spring weather, we just want to be able to play consistent ball, and now we are starting to.  Sawyer and Bump have been seeing the ball really well lately and have had a big impact on our offense.  Together, these two girls are 13-for-17 with 12 RBIs in our last two games alone.  The rest of our team is also starting to hit the gaps instead of finding the defense, and that’s huge.  We are gaining momentum, and it's exciting."

Elba picked up its fourth win in the team's fifth game of the softball season on Monday, beating Kendall 9-4.

Brea Smith picked up the win. She K'd five hitters and walked only one.

Maddie Thompson was 2-3 with an RBI.  Lydia Ross scored twice and drove in a run, going 2-4 and walking once.

Photos by Kristin Smith.

Carley Shepard drove in five runs on three hits to lead Alexander past Alden 16-13 on Saturday at Alden.  

Shepard’s biggest hit was a bases-clearing double to the left field gap in the fourth inning. 

The rest of Alexander's offense was also strong, as the team landed 22 hits on the day.   

Madison Boyce, Melanie Bump and Faith Goodenbury had three hits each during the contest.  Meanwhile, Emily Pietrzykowski, Melissa Sawyer, Claudia Ripstein and Lillian Szymkowiak notched two hits each on the day.

On the bump for Alexander, Emily Pietrzykowski pitched five solid innings, only allowing one earned run and striking out two Bulldogs. Madison Boyce earned the win as she hurled four two-hit innings while striking out 6 Bulldogs.

"We needed this one," said Coach John Goodenbury. "We knew that we haven’t been playing our best ball lately.  We needed to put our feet down and turn things around. They did just that today, and I am proud of these girls.  It was a very cold day as it was snowing off and on throughout the game, and we were missing our starting third baseman, but our girls battled through it and beat a very good and well-coached team on their home field.  Our team had at least one hit today, which was nice to see.  It felt like the ball had been going straight to fielders for putouts in our last three games, but not today.  We are looking forward to our showdown with Oakfield on Monday."

Stats:

• Carley Shepard: 3-for-5, 5 RBIs, 1 Run, Double, SB
• Madison Boyce: 3-for-5, 2 RBIs, SB
• Faith Goodenbury: 3-for-4, 2 Runs, RBI, SB
• Melanie Bump: 3-for-5, 3 Runs, Double, SB
• Emily Pietrzykowski: 2-for-4, 3 Runs, 2 BB, 4 SB
• Claudia Ripstein; 2-for-6, 1 Run, 2 RBIs
• Melissa Sawyer: 2-for-5, 2 Runs, 2 RBIs, Double, 2 SB
• Lillian Szymkowiak: 2-for-5, 1 Run

Pitching:

• Emily Pietrzykowski: 5 IP, 6 hits, 1 Earned  Runs, 4 BB, 2 Ks
• Madison Boyce: (W) 4 IP, 2 hits, 3 Earned Runs, 3 BB, 6 Ks

Batavia Norte Dame smacked around 21 hits on Friday afternoon, leading to a 14-5 win over Lyndonville in Girls Softball.

Hannah Tenney and Mia Treleaven each had four hits. Tenney had three RBIs and scored a run. Treleaven had an RBI. Sofia Falleti had a single, double and three-run blast over the center field fence.  Falleti finished with three runs scored and six RBIs.  Gianna Falleti contributed three hits, two RBIs and scored twice.  Loretta Sorochty, Katie Landers and Cayleigh Havens each had two hits, with Landers scoring three runs and Havens scoring once.

Elba beat CG Finney 16-1 on Tuesday in Girls Softball.

Stats:

• Maddie Thompson was 3-4 and scored twice
• Maddie Hall was 2-5, 2 RBIs and scored 3 times
• Madison Marks and Madilyn Marks each had 2 RBIs
• Adi Norton was 2-4 and 2 RBIs

"Offensively our team had 19 hits and ran the bases well," said Coach Dean Gottler. "Defensively, our fielding was outstanding to back up another great outing from winning pitcher Brea Smith, who struck out four and walked only one."

Photos by Kristin Smith.

Elba beat Alexander 10-4 in Girls Softball on Wednesday.

Adi Norton had three hits and an RBI. Brianna Totten had two RBIs.

Brea Smith fanned five Trojans.

The Lancers were down 4-1 going into the top of the seventh inning and scored nine runs.

Photos by Kristin Smith.

The young players who are learning the game as members of the Batavia Stingers, so Batavia High School's varsity softball team members coaching the Stingers players is good for both teams, said Rob Kersch.

Kersch is Batavia's varsity softball coach.

The Blue Devils hosted a clinic for Stingers players in the auxiliary gym at the high school on Saturday.

"I wanted to make sure our kids are giving back to the community," Kersch said. "They were all little softball players, you know, like they're teaching and coaching right now. I wanted to give back, and they're excited about it, too. They want to get involved with these kids. The other thing is, you're looking at future Batavia Blue Devils. We want to foster some a relationship with them, and help build them up, so when they come up to us, they will be much better players."

Saturday's clinic was all about hitting. Clinics scheduled for April 7 and April 21 will concentrate on fielding and base running.

Current Stingers Board President Michelle Gillard said, "This is a great opportunity for our young athletes to learn and be mentored by older players."

Matt Landers, one of the co-founders of the Stingers, helped facilitate the clinic and said he thinks there is demand for the Stingers program to grow in Batavia, but more parents need to get involved, especially as coaches.

"I think that we definitely have a need in the community and more interest in the community," Landers said. "We're thrilled to be able to do this, again to keep this program going. But we know we can get bigger and have more more kids play ball, but it all comes down to having more coaches."

Photos by Howard Owens.

After trailing the entire game, Batavia PD staged a comeback win in the bottom of the seventh inning to take the third meeting in a charity baseball game between the police department and the City of Batavia Fire Department.

The final score was 14-13 on Saturday evening at Dwyer Stadium.

Proceeds benefited the Michael Napoleone Memorial Foundation.

Photos by Howard Owens.

The Edge Softball Travel Team is holding tryouts starting Aug. 7 at Batavia High School.

Tryout times are 6 to 6:30 p.m. for pitchers and catchers, 6:30 to 8 p.m. for all other positions.

Registration begins 15 minutes prior to tryout.

Teams:

• Aug. 7, 16u and 18u
• Aug. 8, 12u and 14u
• Aug. 9, 16u and 18u
• Aug. 10, 12u & 14u.

For pre-registration text or email Coach Brian Mruczek, brianmruczek@yahoo.com or 585-993*1170. Please include the player's name, date of birth, contact information, and position.

Health issues and a desire to see his son play more baseball in his final season with the Batavia Blue Devils have led Jim Fazio to step down as head coach of the Batavia High School softball team.

He leaves after achieving an important personal goal: Helping the girl's team win a sectional title.

"The team means the world to me," Fazio told The Batavian at Dwyer Stadium during the Batavia Muckdogs game on Monday evening. "Ever since I started coaching, it was a dream to win a sectional title. To finally get it this year, it's just something that, you know, you just dream about."

Fazio has been coaching since 2000 and became varsity softball coach in 2018.

Under the circumstances, coaching in 2024 isn't possible, he said. He's been diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease and is on two waiting lists for a kidney transplant.

"That's the main reason why I'm stepping down," Fazio said. "I think I should be able to coach tennis, but things right now are up in the air."

His son is also entering his senior year, and in the spring, Fazio wants to take the time to see more of his son's baseball games.

"I miss a lot of his games because their schedule almost mimics ours," Fazio said.

Submitted story:

Notre Dame lost a pitcher's duel Tuesday evening in Fillmore against D2 Champion Scio/Friendship.  

Scio opened up the game by scoring a run in the bottom of the first on two of their four base hits.

That one run held up through all seven innings of the contest as Scio pitcher Nevaeh Ross gave up only one hit and struck out 16 batters. 

Mia Treleaven thwarted Ross's bid for a no-hitter in the top of the seventh inning. 

Ross also led the Scio offense with two hits

In the Class B crossover game, Batavia lost to Wellsville, 15-0.

Saturday was quite the sports day for Notre Dame High School with both the baseball and softball teams winning championships.

When the teams returned to Batavia, they were met in the Eastown parking lot by Batavia PD patrols and a City Fire truck and given a championship escort through Downtown.

Photos by Howard Owens.

See also:

• Berry tosses shutout for Notre Dame in Class C2 title game
• Notre Dame takes D1 softball championship with win over Lyndonville

Notre Dame used a balanced offensive attack, flawless defense and, as always, solid pitching to pull out the 5-2 win in the Class D1 Sectional finals over Lyndonville on Saturday afternoon in Fillmore.  

Notre Dame scored runs in the second, third, five, sixth and seventh innings and stopped a late rally by Lyndonville in which the Lady Tigers scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh.  

Starter Loretta Sorochty fanned the last two Tigers to preserve the win. She was named MVP of the tournament.

Sorochty pitched a complete game for the Lady Irish, going seven innings, giving up five hits, two runs and had 11 strikeouts.  

Lyndonville pitcher Shaffer gave up 11 hits, five runs and had six strikeouts.

Leading the way offensively for ND were Sorochty, Mia Treleaven, Sonji Warner and Anna Panepento, who each had two hits.  Sorochty had a double, single, a run scored and an RBI. Treleaven had two singles and an RBI. Warner had two singles, and Panepento had two singles and an RBI.  Katie Landers added a base hit, scored a run and was hit by a pitch twice. Cayleigh Havens had a base hit, and Kaydence Stehlar had a hit and a run scored.

Notre Dame now moves on to face the D2 champion Tuesday night in Fillmore.

"I couldn't be more proud of these ladies," said Coach Otis Thomas. "Between the fall league at MCC, the winter workouts and all the practices we had this spring, it is nice to see their hard work pay off.  This a special group that plays for each other and I hope we can keep this momentum going a little longer and see how far we can go."

For the first time in a decade and the second time in program history, Batavia's softball players lifted a Section V trophy over their heads after beating Waterloo for the Class B1 crown, 7-2.

Giana Mruczek tossed a complete game three-hitter, fanning seven and going 1-3 at the plate and driving in a run.  She was selected as the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

Libby Grazioplene went 4-4. Julia Clark had two stolen bases and scored two runs.  

This was the third year straight that Batavia and Waterloo have clashed in sectional finals and the first time in those three contests that Batavia came out on top.

"To beat Waterloo is a big accomplishment," said Coach James Fazio. "I had a feeling that if we made it this far, it was going to be Waterloo again. And it was, thankfully, we're able to get the job done today."

A key difference this year, Fazio said, is Batavia took an early lead.

"They're such a strong hitting team from top to bottom that no lead to safe against them," Fazio said. "For once, we were able to get the lead on them, and that's been our struggle the last couple of years -- we always play from behind. But this time, we put them on their heels, and we were just able to hold on.  They're a tough team, and we were fortunate enough to beat him."

Mruczek said the win felt really special because she and her teammates have worked hard and grown close.

"I think it's very heartfelt," Mruczek said. "This team has worked so hard for these past two years, and this team (Waterloo), they've always come for us. This was the third year playing them, and I think that we really wanted it so bad. This one is just what everyone deserved. I think it's great."

Clark said there was something special about beating Waterloo, given the history between the two teams.

"This means everything," Clark said. "We've fallen so many times to this team, and we don't see him in the regular season. So it's really this game or nothing. So we always have to put our all in."

The win was also special, Clark said, because of the decade between championship trophies for the softball team.

"We haven't won it all in a very long time," Clark said. "We're always division champs and stuff like that. But to finally win a sectional title for our school means a lot."

Other performance highlights:

• Sophia Minuto, 1-3, two RBIs
• Drew Stevens, 1-3, one RBI
• Arianna Almekinder, 1-3, one RBI
• Lyndsey Grazioplene, 1-3

Next up for Batavia: The Class B consolidation game against either Wellsville or Haverling on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Honeoye Falls-Lima HS.

Photos by Howard Owens. To view more photos, click here.